The newly released Pokemon Pokopia features a subtle reference to the next mainline titles, Pokemon Winds and Waves. First announced at the Nintendo Direct in September 2025, Pokemon Pokopia arrives just as the Pokemon series celebrates its 30th anniversary. The highest-grossing media brand of all time, Pokemon further rang in its 30th anniversary with a recent Pokemon Presents showcase, offering fans a look at the franchise’s future games.
Co-developed by Game Freak and Omega Force, Pokemon Pokopia is a notable switch-up for the series, serving as a life-simulation game centered around a Ditto that pretends to be a human. The new game has already received much praise, even becoming the best-reviewed entry in the entire Pokemon series on Metacritic. Between Pokopia’s success, the recent Nintendo Switch re-release of Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen, and the upcoming Pokemon Winds and Waves coming to the Nintendo Switch 2 in 2027, fans looking to catch ‘em all will have plenty of content to enjoy over the next year.
Pokemon Generation 10 Starters Officially Revealed
The latest Pokemon Presents event caps off with the reveal of the three new starter Pokemon that will be in Pokemon Winds and Waves.
Pokemon Pokopia Features a Poster Referencing Pokemon Winds and Waves Trailer
As reported by VGC, Pokemon Pokopia features a reference to the trailer for Pokemon Winds and Waves that debuted at the Pokemon Presents last month. This comes in the form of a poster that players can find early in the game, which features artwork of several Lumineon swimming around. The poster’s design calls back to the initial trailer for Pokemon Winds and Waves, where a Lumineon is seen during the trailer’s showcase of the upcoming game’s underwater visuals.
Balance the critic averages
Balance the critic averages
Easy (6)Medium (8)Hard (10)
Several titles in the Pokemon series have been known to make references to future entries. In Pokemon Gold and Silver, a Pokedex entry for Corsola referenced Pacifidlog Town, a small sea town that would be featured in Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire. Also, the recently re-released Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen featured hints at Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver’s inevitable reveal that the original game’s rival character, Silver, is the son of Generation 1 villain Giovanni. Furthermore, a Pokemon Sword and Shield wallpaper containing an orange and a grape appeared to be a teaser for the franchise’s next major Nintendo Switch entries, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, as those are the two national fruits of Spain, which the game’s Paldea region is based on.
Considering the Pokemon franchise’s long-standing history of referencing upcoming titles, it’s not a massive surprise that Pokemon Pokopia is creating some extra hype for Pokemon Winds and Waves. Still, it’s fascinating to see a spin-off title making such a reference, considering that other notable Easter eggs are usually limited to the mainline titles. Given that Game Freak helped develop Pokemon Pokopia, it seems the developer felt the new project was a fitting place to generate hype for the next mainline entries.
This Lumineon poster may not even be the only references to Pokemon Winds and Waves players may see in the new game. Pokemon Pokopia is set to host its first limited-time event centered around the Pokemon Hoppip, and previous leaks indicated that the game will receive some DLC in the future. With the spin-off’s early success pointing to a long life-cycle of content, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Game Freak use Pokemon Pokopia to drum up further excitement for Pokemon Winds and Waves’ release next year.
- Released
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March 5, 2026
- ESRB
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Everyone / Users Interact, In-Game Purchases
